How to Develop a Powerful Concentration

01 Apr Developing a Powerful Concentration | Inspirational Podcast

Posted at 16:24h in The Best Inspirational Podcasts to Listen to by Administrator

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Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast, brought to you in part by Book of Zen, makers of wearable inspiration for a better world. Today’s podcast has been edited and adapted from Thought Force in Business & Every Day Life by William Walker Atkinson, published in 1901″¦

The individual who practices concentration in their daily life, shuts out distracting impressions, and gives their best thought force to the task at hand, and does better work by reason thereof, whether that person be an architect, office worker, salesperson, poet, painter, or banker.

Every person who has succeeded in life has developed the art of concentration. They may not realize it, but they have, just the same. And more, any person who will develop the art of concentration will be successful.

The individual who can concentrate has a sure remedy for the “blues.” How so? Why, just by shutting off the unpleasant thoughts and concentrating on a brighter subject. Thousands of people have found this plan a specific remedy for the “blues,” discouragement, worry, fear, and the rest.

Try it, and you will find that life will appear entirely different to you. Try it, and you will begin to feel the thrill of life again, and will thank God that you are alive, instead of cursing the day when you were born. You will do your work better; you will feel better; you will BE better. Is it not worth trying it out?

Take up the exercises I am about to share with you, and go over them until you can do anything whatsoever, without your thoughts wandering. Anyone can concentrate upon an agreeable task, but just give them an unpleasant or monotonous job, and you will find that their thoughts will wander away in spite of themselves; that is, until they learn to concentrate by an effort of will.

That is the true test – the ability to successfully concentrate upon an unpleasant, unattractive, or monotonous task.

When you have overcome these troubles, you will know that you have broken the backbone of Wasted Effort and Motion. By concentration you will be able to focus your attention, thought, and energy upon a given thing, thereby obtaining the best possible results.

The rays of the sun, when focused upon an object by means of a sunglass, produce a heat many times greater than the original direct sunlight. So it is with attention. Scatter it and you get but ordinary results. But focus it upon the thing to be done, and you obtain a wonderful amount of energy.

The concentrating professional focuses their attention, and thought force, upon an object, and the result is that their every action (voluntary and involuntary) is in the direction of the attainment of that object. Every individual can reach their goal if only they want it hard enough. If your energies are focused upon one thing, to the exclusion of everything else, the force so generated must bring about the result.

The moral of all this is: “Whatsoever you do, do it with all your might.” Do it in earnest. “Do one thing at a time, and do it well.”

I will now give you a few exercises, the practice of which will enable you to develop the power of concentration. But first I would like to again remind you that the underlying principle of concentration is the focusing of the attention upon a certain thought or action. Any exercise, which will strengthen the faculty of suppressing non-essential thoughts, will be of value. The exercises I’m about to share are merely being furnished as a few suggestions.

The fist requisite of concentration is the ability to shut-out external thoughts, sounds, and sights; to conquer inattention; to obtain perfect control over the body and mind. The body must be brought under the direct control of the mind; and the mind under the direct control of the will.

The Will is strong enough, but the Mind needs strengthening by being brought under the direct influence of the Will. The Mind, strengthened by the impulse of the Will, becomes a much more powerful projector of our thought vibrations, than otherwise, and the vibrations have much greater force and effect.

In the following exercises, we will begin with training the body to readily obey the commands of the Mind.

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